Big pile of coop scrapings stinks horribly -- please help!

Curious what the components of your 'deep litter' was/is...other than the poop?

I'd re-pile it in layers with dry materials(straw and/or hay) as the 'wet' is what's causing the odor.
Might even add in some larger, slower 'browns' like twigs/small branches to maintain some air/oxygen spaces within the pile.
Might even throw some powdered composting biologics in the layers to get things going.
Get the right mix and it may even heat up and start to decompose despite the cold ambient temps.
Adding some zeolite/PDZ to the layers might help...or maybe spread on top after re-layering.
Don't think there's a fast and/or easy answer to this problem.

Sorry for your sniffer.

amiachicknorwat said:

Hi folks, Been a while since I posted. We went away for 3 weeks and came home to wet stinky deep litter in our coop. We, like most around northern North America, have had a tremendous winter, that still persists into spring. So maybe from the snow melt and surely partly from a leaky watering container, the whole deep littered cement floor was near soaked. Wearing masks we scraped it out and now it's in a big pile behind the coop which is behind our house. The smell wafting this way and that was near intolerable. And we're still in deep snow and coldish temps, so I want to deal with this before real spring temps arise, well before summer, any way! I've tried throwing dolomite lime and ash from our woodstove over top the pile and covered it with a tarp. Has helped a bit but know we'll need something more for the race to summer. The pile is too big to sequester into drums for anaerobic bokashi composting. any other ideas very welcome. Much thanks and Happy spring when it comes (or happy when spring comes). It is warming up I know. It just had a long way too go. happiness either way, Nick

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aart said:

Curious what the components of your 'deep litter' was/is...other than the poop?

I'd re-pile it in layers with dry materials(straw and/or hay) as the 'wet' is what's causing the odor.
Might even add in some larger, slower 'browns' like twigs/small branches to maintain some air/oxygen spaces within the pile.
Might even throw some powdered composting biologics in the layers to get things going.
Get the right mix and it may even heat up and start to decompose despite the cold ambient temps.
Adding some zeolite/PDZ to the layers might help...or maybe spread on top after re-layering.
Don't think there's a fast and/or easy answer to this problem.

Sorry for your sniffer.

Click to expand...

Amia, What you have is a DL gone bad! Aart speaks with the voice of reason, and I second her question. What was in your DL? How deep was it? What planting zone are you in? How soon is the frost out of your ground? Zeolite would help to bind up the ammonia. I think your DL went anaerobic. So, as painful as it will be to your sniffer, what you need to do is layer it with brown materials as Aart suggested. If hay is all you can get this time of year, use that. It's really easy to work with b/c the bale breaks apart in flakes. (be sure the hay has not been treated with herbicides.) Don't use shavings! Too bad you didn't do that as you cleaned it out of the coop, but I can understand your dismay when you got back and your urge to "do something, NOW!" So, if you can get your hands on some brown material (high carbon) and start layering it up, and cover it with a tarp to keep it from getting wetter, that will take care of the problem and turn that black stink into black gold. What I wouldn't do is add more wood shavings. They simply take too long to break down. And if you were using them in your coop for DL, I suggest that you stop buying them, and convert to natural materials as soon as weather and growing season permit. I find that the best materials for my DL include leaves, grass clippings, a bit of hay, garden debris, and eventually, I will add some wood chips (not shavings).